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When a tear in the lining of a wastewater pool at a former phosphate plant threatened to unleash a 20-foot wave of contaminated water into neighborhoods in Piney Point, Florida, officials had no choice but to pump millions of gallons of the water into Port Manatee, a cargo port along the eastern shore of Tampa Bay.
The transfer of 165 million gallons into the bay averted catastrophe. But scientists and state officials are now urgently monitoring the bay’s water quality, fearful that nutrients in the wastewater could lead to harmful algal blooms and disrupt the bay’s marine ecosystem.
3 hours ago by Cathy Carter (WUSF)
Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper say the wastewater at Piney Point has approximately 10 times the amount of Nitrogen than raw sewage.
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A pair of environmental organizations are weighing in on the Piney Point wastewater leak in Manatee County. They say the crisis at the old fertilizer plant was preventable.
The owner of a leaking reservoir at a former phosphate plant, which forced the discharge of millions of gallons of polluted water into Tampa Bay is not solely to blame for the environmental disaster, environmental groups say.
Piney Point discharge treatment continues, state says Water levels at the leaking Piney Point reservoir see Tuesday, April 6, have gone down since yesterday (Source: Manatee County) By ABC7 Staff | April 7, 2021 at 5:24 PM EDT - Updated April 7 at 5:28 PM
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - State environmental officials continue to work on cleaning the water from the leaking Piney Point phosphate facility, officials said Wednesday.
According to the latest update from The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s web page dedicated to Piney Point, the state is working with technology companies to reduce the amount of nutrients and chemicals in the water being discharged into Tampa Bay through Port Manatee.
Residents near Piney Point turn attention to environmental concerns
Kimberly Kuizon reports
PALMETTO, Fla. - The threat of a large-scale breach of contaminated water is over at the old Piney Point phosphate plant but concerns remain over water leaking from the holding ponds and the proposed solutions to fix short and long-term problems.
Wednesday night, a dive team and an underwater submersible went inside the pond, hoping to find a way to plug the leaks. But the team is only able to work on one of the several ponds at Piney Point.
In the long-term, Manatee County wants to get rid of all that water. Tuesday, commissioners approved a deep well injection site that will be fast-tracked through the DEP.
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Local officials made the decision to pump 173 million gallons of polluted water a mix of rain, saltwater, and water that’s a byproduct of fertilizer production into Tampa Bay, reported Creative Loafing: Tampa Bay. Advertisement Hide
A state of emergency was declared in Florida Saturday after a leak at a large pond of wastewater threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters, reported ABC7. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said the pond holds millions of gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from an old phosphate plant.
Locals and online activists are reacting strongly against the decisions of local officials, sparking protests in the area.